Sheriff Arpaio must go.!!!!!!!!

Demand Justice- Sign the Petition

Should "America's Toughest Sheriff" get a free pass on his controversial tactics? Should he round up immigrants at traffic stops and force them to sleep in separate "Tent Cities" in the desert?

We think he should get investigated by the Department of Justice.


With over 2,700 lawsuits against him, a history of virulently anti-immigrant and anti-Latino tactics, and 40,000 felony warrants outstanding in his jurisdiction, Arpaio has fostered a climate in which real criminals roam free while hard-working immigrants live in fear. America's Voice is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to begin a federal investigation into his tactics, giving Sheriff Arpaio the attention he really deserves.



Demand an investigation from the Department of Justice:


Honorable Eric Holder
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530



We, the undersigned, respectfully request that you direct your office to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, for gross civil rights violations in the name of immigration enforcement.

No official is above the law, and yet Sheriff Arpaio has engaged in racial profiling and civil rights abuses for years with impunity.

The case against the publicity-hungry Sheriff is well documented and horrifying. Joe Arpaio has made a mockery of our justice system by:

Relying heavily on racial profiling and double standards: routinely stopping drivers for minor violations and only forcing "Latino-looking" drivers to produce Social Security cards.

Engaging in sidewalk “crime sweeps” in low-crime communities – detaining those who cannot prove their citizenship status on the spot, while allowing dangerous felons to roam free.

Promoting horrifying detention conditions that have been condemned by health agencies and human rights organizations.

Arpaio’s prisons have been stripped of their health standards accreditation, the Mayor of Phoenix and other law enforcement officials have denounced the Sheriff's tactics, the Governor of Arizona has pulled some of his key funding, and over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against him. Meanwhile, crime has surged. The Sheriff's office has over 40,000 outstanding warrants for real felons that it simply hasn't had time to tackle.

Mr. Attorney General, elected officials are subject to our nation's laws. Sheriffs should be held accountable for fighting crime, not rewarded for spreading fear. We request an immediate Department of Justice investigation into Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his appalling tactics.

Sign the petition here: America's Voice.

Stimulus bill for Liars like Lou Dobbs and Bill O’Reilly.

From what I've been able to find on reputable sites, (New York Times, Factcheck.org) and from my own knowledge Undocumented Immigrants pay more than 7 billion dollars into the system each year in Social Security payroll deductions and 1.5 billion dollars in Medicare taxes.

Most of the people use fake social Security cards or ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) to get jobs and most don't collect. Both Social Security and medicare would be in even worse shape if the undocumented workers were able to collect benefits but they are not entitled to any benefits.

Even if some are getting benefits, the overwhelming majority pay into the systems but never get anything from the system.

I'm not making excuses; I am just trying not to be blinded by the message of hatred from those who really are reacting without thinking their positions through.

Pushing false information has lasting consequences on the image of immigrants, and those perceived to be foreign.

On January 29, 2009, Associated Press staff writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis, released the article “Hill Republican: Stimulus aids illegal immigrants” where the false assertion was made that the Stimulus package would provide money for undocumented immigrants:

The $800 billion-plus economic stimulus measure making its way through Congress could steer government checks to illegal immigrants, a top Republican congressional official asserted Thursday.

Shortly after its publication, the story gained a lot of public attention by the conservative news site The Drudge Report, CNN’s Lou Dobbs, and FOX News. Hours after the false claim was retracted by the AP (3:02 p.m. ET), these “news organizations” repeated it nonetheless. The Drudge Report kept the link to the uncorrected AP story up for 4 hours. Dobbs made the claim at 5:27 pm ET. FOX News repeated the claim at 6:09 pm ET, and then again at 8:16 pm ET on Bill O’Reilly’s.

As it turned out, the one single anonymous source was later withdrawn and the article was rewritten to show the information provided by that source had been false.

A senior GOP congressional official expressed concern Thursday that the bill could steer government checks to undocumented workers, but in fact the measure prevents anyone without a Social Security number from claiming tax credits of $500 per worker and $1,000 per couple.

Stories like these tend to instigate anti-immigration sentiments given the controversial topic, and Fox News, Lou Dobbs, and the Drudge Report only add fuel to the fire. The point is simple: pushing false information has the lasting consequences on the image of immigrants, and those perceived to be foreign. Ineffectively informing the public about two important issues, immigration and the economy, will only strengthen the tensions amongst the various ideologies debating these topics.

Anti-immigrant Politics is no sure path to Electoral Victory.

Now that most of the Republican xenophobes in Congress were given their pink slip, and the once Grand Old Party has shrunk to non-existence in D.C., maybe common sense can be used to pass an immigration reform bill once and for all.

And now that we have a new president Barack Obama, there will be some rather interesting changes...including a new head of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Now that the head of ICE, Michael Brown clone Julie Myers, will be replaced, and a large amount of Latinos pulling the lever for Obama, you can count on pressure to placed on the new administration to revise the policies of ICE raids across the country.

Here is a quick review for some Anti Immigrants measures:

Oregon Measure 58, which would have prohibited teaching Non English-Speaking public schools students in a language other than English for more than two years. Failed. The Proposition was widely opposed by teachers' groups and Immigrants rights advocates.

Missouri did pass a mostly meaningless English Only measure which states that English is the Official language for Government Meetings. This will not produce any changes to the current status quo.

Arizona Prop 202, failed to pass. It would have weakened the existing employer sanctions, but added penalties for ID theft against Undocumented Immigrants.

In an example of race where Immigration drove the debate, Lou Barletta, the staunchly Anti Immigrant Mayor of Hazelton, Pa; Lost his challenge to incumbent democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski, demostrating the inneffectiveness of his Anti Immigrant platform for voters interested in real solutions to the Increasingly gloomy economic outlook.

In case you weren’t watching the Escondido City Council elections, coffeehouse owner Olga Diaz unseated incumbent Ed Gallo, breaking up the trio of Gallo, Sam Abed and Marie Waldron that made national news with their unsuccessfull attempt to deny rental housing to undocumented immigrants. This is good news

Clearly, anti-immigrant politics is no sure path to electoral victory, especially if it is the central message -- a lesson that the Republicans should have learned from their 2006 losses. But neither was it the case that the victories of Dole’s and Barletta’s opponents were primarily due to their pro-immigrant, pro-immigration positions.

In North Carolina, Dole’s loss was mainly due to surge in those who voted straight-ticket Democratic. According to post-election analysis by Dr. Michael Bitzer, associate professor of political science at Catawba College in North Carolina, the 52-44% victory of state senator Kay Hagan over incumbent Dole would have been a 51-49% victory for Dole without the straight ticket votes. Also, the heavy early voting, central to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's grassroots effort to get people registered and to the polls, heavily favored Hagan in the state.

Undocumented Immigrants Linking to Identity Theft: A myth or a lie?

Over the course of a year, defendants Anderton and Kirsch used the identities of more than 16 victims in numerous illegal transactions to obtain more than $119,000 in cash and merchandise. They also made failed attempts to obtain more than $122,000 in additional cash and merchandise. I want to pointed out were we do not want to believe that the genuine identities of possibly hundreds of thousands of US citizens are being stolen or hijacked by Citizens and criminal organizations and not by Undocumented Immigrants which we tended to blame because they do not have a Political voice either legal representation.

The government has used the charges against Undocumented Workers with the possibility of prison time to persuade people to plead guilty to lesser immigration violations. In other cases, defendants have been convicted of "aggravated identity theft," even without proof that they knew their phony ID numbers belonged to real people. The central question is whether the defendant must know that the counterfeit identification belongs to someone else. Federal prosecutors have increasingly been bringing the more serious identity theft charges against undocumented immigrants.

Defense lawyers have argued that their clients should not be charged with stealing an identity because the immigrants were seeking documentation only to allow them to work. They didn't know if the numbers were fictitious or belonged to someone else.

When a person makes up a Social Security number, having no idea whether it belongs to someone else, it is hard to see how that conduct qualifies as 'theft' - much less 'aggravated theft. So what about the person who knows and have an idea who's that number belongs to?

Jocelyn Kirsch, 23, of Novato, California, was sentenced today to five years in prison for her role in an extensive identity theft and fraud scheme, announced Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid. Kirsch pleaded guilty in July 2008, to conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. Between November 2006 and November 30, 2007, Kirsch and co-defendant Edward Anderton stole identity information, credit cards, and credit card account information from numerous victims, including friends, co-workers, neighbors, fellow students, bar patrons, and others, and used those stolen materials extensively to buy merchandise and obtain cash. Anderton pleaded guilty in June 2008 and is scheduled for sentencing on November 14, 2008. In addition to the prison terms, United States District Court Judge Eduardo Robreno ordered Kirsch to pay $101,033 restitution, a $600 special assessment, and to complete five years of supervised release.

Over the course of a year, defendants Anderton and Kirsch used the identities of more than 16 victims in numerous illegal transactions to obtain more than $119,000 in cash and merchandise. They also made failed attempts to obtain more than $122,000 in additional cash and merchandise. The defendants used the proceeds of their fraud scheme to help fund their lavish lifestyle that included trips to Florida, Paris, Hawaii, Montreal, and the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Philadelphia Police Department, The University of Pennsylvania Police Department, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen and Special Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Caulfield

Perversion Of Justice in America.

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What can be said of a justice system that sentences a young mother of three to life in prison for a first-time and non-violent drug-related offense?

Undocumented Immigrants responsible for Identity theft? Pack of Lies.

Arrests Made in Major Bank Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme

Richard K. Ruminski, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Milwaukee Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced today the arrests of MICHAEL B. VORCE, age 31 and JAMES C. JETT, age 29. The two suspects were arrested without incident by FBI special agents from the Milwaukee and Chicago Divisions on 8/27/08.

In a criminal complaint, the two suspects are charged with knowingly executing a scheme to defraud a financial institution, in violation of 18 United States Code Section 1344; and knowingly conspiring to defraud a financial institution in violation of 18 United States Code Section 371.

This multi-state bank fraud and identity theft scheme involves at least $2.6 million, and at least four financial institutions. The investigation is continuing as the individuals appear to be part of a larger fraud scheme. The bank fraud and identity theft committed involved the use of stolen personal information from victims and the use of the personal information to obtain high-dollar loans from financial institutions, purportedly to purchase boats. In some instances, the vessels themselves were fictitious.

Because of law enforcement’s focus on mortgage fraud, criminals may now be targeting alternative high-end items such as large boats to facilitate their fraud schemes.

The public is reminded that a criminal complaint is merely a method by which to charge individuals with criminal conduct. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty

Why the Minuteman Ignoring the 14th Admendment

The Minutemen groups are tolerated within the ranks of the Protectionists, and Libertarians is proof that the Minuteman have absolutely no respect or regard for the Constitution they claim to be defending. The Minutemen rather than tormenting Jews, the American Fascists are tormenting undocumented workers. Their actions vary from posting bizarre paranoid articles on the Internet to threats of actual violence and bodily harm to Mexican immigrants; documented and undocumented alike.
Claiming 2nd Amendment rights, The Minutemen are armed and claim that they are a legal and well regulated militia. They are not legal. Minutemen exist in defiance of the 14th Amendment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Everybody within the borders of the United States has the same legal protections. Undocumented workers have the same rights to legal protection for their lives and property as American citizens. Undocumented workers have the same rights of due process and a jury of their peers. So far, the Minutemen have contented themselves with blowing off a lot of hot air. They do some counter protesting, or they swill beer in their yards while watching the border. So far there has been no violence. Once the Minutemen harm an undocumented worker, they will prove themselves to be an illegal organization and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
But I want to pointed out that The Minuteman are a perfect illustration of the mindless nationalism which dominates the entire Libertarian movement. It is reminiscent of Nazi Aryan superiority. To the Libertarians, only American citizens have the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Apparently Constitutional rights are so rare that there are not enough to share with guests. The very name “Minutemen” brings to mind the Revolutionary War and Paul Revere’s famous ride. It is a chilling reminder of the Brown Shirt’s association with the Teutonic Knights and the Vikings. The Minutemen evoke mythic history to confront their make-believe danger.
Indeed, undocumented workers pose no danger to either the American economy or the tax payer’s money. Undocumented workers take jobs that the average Libertarian spits upon, and the undocumented worker’s role in agriculture is the only thing that keeps the small farmer competitive with the agromonopolies. In a healthy economy, the cost of medical and social services are easily absorbed through the intelligent investment of our tax money. True, right now we do not have a healthy economy. Thanks to the Neocons and their Libertarian lap-dogs, we have a very saggy economy. Still, that is no excuse for ignoring the 14th Amendment.
This brings us to the Libertarian disdain for human rights. The Minutemen exist only to deny rights to a minority. In this specific case, to a brown skinned Spanish speaking minority. You might notice that the Minutemen are not that active at the Canadian border, even though we do get our share of undocumented Canadians. I have not heard of the Minutemen protesting the undocumented Irish in San Francisco. The Minutemen are simply an expression of economic white elitism that is one of the cornerstones of the Libertarian movement.

Facing deportation after three years in prison

After serving almost three years in a Vietnamese prison for sexually abusing two underage girls Gary Glitter has been deported.

The disgraced rock star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, has been released from prison in Vietnam after serving a three year sentence for molesting two underage girls. The singer was arrested in November 2005 as he tried to flee the country.

USCIS Plans to Implement New Citizenship Test on October 1, 2008

I am wonder if the Minuteman members, Nativists and Anti Immigrants will pass that Test? Thanks to Kyledeb for a great article of a great example of English lessons from Anti Immigrants and the so called Nativists. Do you think they have at least a GED? Asking for a Bachelor degree it would be too much to ask for. right? Click here:

This October, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin using a new test to assess naturalization applicants’ English language ability (reading, writing, and speaking) and knowledge of U.S. history and civics. The new test has been in development for more than eight years. CLINIC participated in a working group of advocates who met regularly with USCIS to provide input in the test redesign process beginning in summer 2002. The impetus for the new test was a 1997 report by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform which criticized the current test for not assessing a meaningful knowledge of U.S. history and civics, not being standardized, and relying too much on rote memorization. CLINIC and others were very concerned that the new test might be considerably more difficult than the current test, and might pose a barrier to low-literate and limited English proficient applicants. Chapter six of CLINIC’s report, A More Perfect Union, describes the history of the test redesign process and the advocacy efforts to ensure a fair test. The report is available on the CLINIC website at: http://www.cliniclegal.org/DNP/citzplan.html.

Timeline for Implementation
All citizenship applicants who file their N-400 on or after October 1, 2008 will take the new test. Applicants who file before October 1, but have their interview after that date will have a choice of taking either the old or new test. Beginning on October 1, 2009, everyone will take the new test, regardless of when they filed. However, for those who choose to take the old test before October 1, 2009, fail, and are re-tested after that date, the old test will be given. (This is to ensure that applicants are given the same version of the test on each attempt.)

Format for the New Test
The format for the new test is very similar to the current test. There is no change to the English speaking test. Applicants’ speaking skills will continue to be tested through their ability to answer questions normally asked in the course of the naturalization interview, such as questions about the N-400 and small talk at the beginning of the interview. For the English reading test, applicants will be given up to three sentences and must be able to read one sentence correctly in order to pass. The sentences will be questions about U.S. history and civics. A list of vocabulary words that will be used in the reading sentences is available for study at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/reading_vocab.pdf.

For the English writing (dictation) test, the USCIS officer will give the answer to the question the applicant just read, so the reading and writing test items will be linked. For example, an applicant might be asked to read, “Who was the first President?” and then to write, “Washington was the first President.” Applicants will be given up to three dictation sentences and must be able to write one sentence correctly in order to pass this portion of the test. A study list of vocabulary words that will be used in the dictation sentences is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/writing_vocab.pdf. The sentences that will be used for the reading and writing tests are not available in advance, only the vocabulary words.

Scoring Guidelines
USCIS has published scoring guidelines for the English test that include the following points:
For the English speaking test, USCIS officers are required to repeat and rephrase questions until they are satisfied that the applicant either fully understands the question or does not understand English.
To pass the English reading test, the applicant must be able to read one sentence without extended pauses. The applicant may omit short words that do not interfere with meaning, or make pronunciation or intonation errors that do not interfere with meaning.
To pass the English writing test, the applicant must be able to write one sentence that has the same general meaning as the dictated sentence. The applicant may omit short words that do not interfere with meaning, and may make some grammatical, spelling, punctuation, or capitalization errors that do not interfere with meaning.
The full scoring guidelines are available at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/English_Test_Scoring_Guidelines.pdf.

The History/Civics Test
The U.S. history and civics test is based on a new list of 100 study questions available at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf. Much of the content is the same as the current test but some new content, such as geography, has been added and other content, such as rights and responsibilities, has been expanded. Also, many of the current test questions have been re-phrased in an effort to focus on meaning. For example, “What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War?” has been changed to, “Why did the colonists fight the British?” As a result, many of the questions have more than one correct answer. The format is the same as the current test. Applicants will be asked ten questions and must answer at least six questions correctly in order to pass. The history/civics test will be an oral test.

Detention Center officer pleade guilty of Civil Rights Violations.

FORMER GRANT COUNTY, KENTUCKY DETENTION CENTER OFFICERS FOUND GUILTY OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TEENAGER RAPE CASE.

A Kentucky jury convicted Wesley Lanham and Shawn Freeman, both former deputy jailers, on federal civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction charges, the Justice Department announced today. The defendants, former deputies at the Grant County Detention Center, were found guilty of conspiring to violate the civil rights of a teenage traffic offender when they arranged for him to be raped by inmates. The jury convicted the defendants on all charges and specifically found that the defendants were responsible for the aggravated sexual assault carried out by the inmates.

The defendants face up to life in prison when they are sentenced on Dec. 8, 2008.

The case stemmed from an incident that occurred on Valentine’s Day in 2003, when the defendants, along with their supervisor, former Sergeant Shawn Sydnor, taunted an 18-year-old high school student who had been brought to the detention center on a speeding charge. The deputies teased the teenager about his physical appearance and told him that he would make a good “girlfriend” for the other inmates. The defendants then solicited a group of convicted felons housed in a general population cell to scare the teenager. After eliciting an agreement from the inmates, the officers left the teenager in the cell where he was sexually assaulted by the other inmates.

When the teenager’s father reported the incident and demanded an investigation, the defendants falsified their official reports relating to the treatment of the teenager.

Sydnor, previously pleaded guilty to civil rights and conspiracy charges and faces up to 15 years in prison.

This case was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Kristy L. Parker and Trial Attorney Forrest Christian of the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Immigration officer accused of soliciting sex

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A Brazilian judge issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for a U.S. immigration officer accused of soliciting an 11-year-old boy for sex in Rio de Janeiro.Michael Joseph Clifford, 43, of Providence, Rhode Island allegedly took the boy, one of Rio de Janeiro's many impoverished street children, to his Copacabana hotel room last month and paid him US$175 for sex, police inspector Jairo Pessanha said.Clifford, who has since returned to the United States, is accused of child sex exploitation and sexual abuse of minors. The charges that carry up to 26 years in prison, Pessanha said.The Associated Press left messages seeking comment at several phone numbers listed under Clifford's name in the Providence area, but they were not immediately returned. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington said the agent has been placed on leave while it conducts its own investigation.Brazilian authorities say hotel personnel handed over security camera footage showing Clifford and the boy entering the hotel at 3:00 a.m. on March 15 and leaving five hours later.Pessanha said the cameras also filmed Clifford giving money to two Brazilian men who allegedly arranged the encounter. They were arrested on Wednesday and face similar charges.Police are still investigating whether a larger sex ring could be involved, the inspector said.Pessanha said the suspect traveled to Brazil frequently to escort deported illegal immigrants here.Police, U.S. consular officials and Interpol and FBI agents will meet on Thursday "to discuss how to get Clifford back to Brazil to stand trial," he said.

Mississippi Police Office sentenced to life in prison for Violating Civil rights

FORMER JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING A DETAINEE.

WASHINGTON - Maceo Simmons, a former officer with the Jackson Police Department in Jackson, Miss., was sentenced to life imprisonment on Aug. 4, 2008, for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman he had detained after a traffic stop, the Justice Department announced today.

The sentence arises out of an incident that occurred on Sept. 19, 1999. The victim was a passenger in a car, which was pulled over by Jackson police officers for running a stop sign. Simmons handcuffed the victim and placed her in the back of his patrol car. He and another officer then drove her to a remote and isolated location, where Simmons repeatedly raped the victim while the second officer acted as a lookout. Simmons was originally sentenced to a term of 20 years imprisonment, but that sentence was reversed on appeal.

"The court's sentence reflects the gravity of the defendant's egregious conduct," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "Although nothing can erase the scars of a rape, hopefully, the court's action will help the victim feel safer knowing that the perpetrator is behind bars for life."

The convictions resulted from an investigation by Special Agent Brendan Sheehan, formerly with the Jackson office of the FBI, Special Litigation Counsel Paige Fitzgerald and Trial Attorney Karima Maloney from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division

Undocumented Immigrants boolster social security retirement.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the money collected for Social Security that Undocumented Immigrants don't get? Do you know who are the most concern to any legalization for Undocumented Immigrants and why?
Seniors and retirement boomers are against any form of legalization for Undocumented Immigrants that could cost Social Security billions in future payments and will almost certainly trigger benefit cuts for baby retirement boomers and senior citizens.
What happens to the money assigned to people using false identities, or names matched with the wrong Social Security Number (SSN), or newlyweds who forgot to register their name changes with the Social Security administration?

The answer lies in a little-known aspect of the Social Security behemoth known as the Earnings Suspense File (ESF).

The ESF has become a hotbed for debate over everything from immigration rights, as it continues to accrue money at roughly $ 7 billion a year, with the total as of 2005 sitting at $660 billions.
During 2000-2005 the total number of mismatched wage reports jumped from 217 million to 274 million- 82% higher than during the 1990's and more than double the rate of the 1980's. Over the same period, wages in the Earnings Suspense File more than doubled, from $301.8 billion to $660 billions.

Since Undocumented Immigrant crossing the Mexican border into the United States six years ago, Ángel Martínez has done backbreaking work, harvesting asparagus, pruning grapevines and picking the ripe fruit. More recently, he has also washed trucks, often working as much as 70 hours a week, earning $8.50 to $12.75 an hour.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Martínez, 28, has not given much thought to Social Security's long-term financial problems. But Mr. Martínez - who comes from the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico and hiked for two days through the desert to enter the United States near Tecate, some 20 miles east of Tijuana - contributes more than most Americans to the solvency of the nation's public retirement system.

Last year, Mr. Martínez paid about $2,000 toward Social Security and $450 for Medicare through payroll taxes withheld from his wages. Yet unlike most Americans, who will receive some form of a public pension in retirement and will be eligible for Medicare as soon as they turn 65, Mr. Martínez is not entitled to benefits.

He belongs to a big club. As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so Undocumented immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.

While it has been evident for years that Undocumented immigrants pay a variety of taxes, the extent of their contributions to Social Security is striking: the money added up to about 10 percent of last year's surplus - the difference between what the system currently receives in payroll taxes and what it doles out in pension benefits. Moreover, the money paid by Undcoumented workers and their employers is factored into all the Social Security Administration's projections.

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, co-director of immigration studies at New York University, noted sardonically, could provide "the fastest way to shore up the long-term finances of Social Security."

It is impossible to know exactly how many Undocumented immigrant workers pay taxes. But according to specialists, most of them do. Since 1986, when the Immigration Reform and Control Act set penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, most such workers have been forced to buy fake ID's or ITIN Numbers to get a job.

Currently available for about $150 on street corners in just about any immigrant neighborhood in California, a typical fake ID package includes a green card and a Social Security card. It provides cover for employers, who, if asked, can plausibly assert that they believe all their workers are legal. It also means that workers must be paid by the book - with payroll tax deductions.

IRCA, as the immigration act is known, did little to deter employers from hiring Undocumented immigrants or to discourage them from working. But for Social Security's finances, it was a great piece of legislation.

Starting in the late 1980's, the Social Security Administration received a flood of W-2 earnings reports with incorrect - sometimes simply fictitious - Social Security numbers. It stashed them in what it calls the "earnings suspense file" in the hope that someday it would figure out whom they belonged to.

The file has been mushrooming ever since: $189 billion worth of wages ended up recorded in the suspense file over the 1990's, two and a half times the amount of the 1980's.

In the current decade, the file is growing, on average, by more than $50 billion a year, generating $6 billion to $7 billion in Social Security tax revenue and about $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes.

In 2002 alone, figures released by the Social Security Administration, nine million W-2's with incorrect Social Security numbers landed in the suspense file, accounting for $56 billion in earnings, or about 1.5 percent of total reported wages.

Social Security officials do not know what fraction of the suspense file corresponds to the earnings of Undocumented immigrants. But they suspect that the portion is significant.

"Our assumption is that about three-quarters of other-than-legal immigrants pay payroll taxes," said Stephen C. Goss, Social Security's chief actuary, using the agency's term for Undocumented immigration.

Other researchers say Undocumented immigrants are the main contributors to the suspense file. "Undocumented immigrants account for the vast majority of the suspense file," said Nick Theodore, the director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Especially its growth over the 1990's, as more and more undocumented immigrants entered the work force."

Using data from the Census Bureau's current population survey, Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, an Think Tank group in Washington that favors more limits on immigration, estimated that 3.8 million households headed by Undocumented immigrants generated $6.4 billion in Social Security taxes in 2002.

A comparative handful of former Undocumented immigrant workers who have obtained legal residence have been able to accredit their previous earnings to their new legal Social Security numbers. Mr. Camarota is among those opposed to granting a broad amnesty to Undocumented immigrants, arguing that, among other things, they might claim Social Security benefits and put further financial stress on the system.

The mismatched W-2's fit like a glove on Undocumented immigrants' known geographic distribution and the patchwork of jobs they typically hold. An audit found that more than half of the 100 employers filing the most earnings reports with false Social Security numbers from 1997 through 2001 came from just three states: California, Texas and Illinois. According to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office, about 17 percent of the businesses with inaccurate W-2's were restaurants, 10percent were construction companies and 7 percent were farm operations.

Most immigration helps Social Security's finances, because new immigrants tend to be of working age and contribute more than they take from the system. A simulation by Social Security's actuaries found that if net immigration ran at 1.3 million a year instead of the 900,000 in their central assumption, the system's 75-year funding gap would narrow to 1.67 percent of total payroll, from 1.92 percent - savings that come out to half a trillion dollars, valued in today's money.

Undocumented immigrants help even more because they will never collect benefits. According to Mr. Goss, without the flow of payroll taxes from wages in the suspense file, the system's long-term funding hole over 75 years would be 10 percent deeper.

Yet to immigrants, the lack of retirement benefits is just part of the package of hardship they took on when they decided to make the trek north. Tying vines in a vineyard some 30 miles north of Stockton, Florencio Tapia, 20, from Guerrero, along Mexico's Pacific coast, has no idea what the money being withheld from his paycheck is for. "I haven't asked," Mr. Tapia said.

For Undocumented immigrants, Social Security numbers are simply a tool needed to work on this side of the border. Retirement does not enter the picture.

"There will be a moment when I won't be able to continue working," Mr. Martínez acknowledges. "But that's many years off."

Mario Avalos, a naturalized Nicaraguan immigrant who prepares income tax returns for many workers in the area, including immigrants without legal papers, observes that many older workers return home to Mexico. "Among my clients," he said, "I can't recall anybody over 60 without papers."

No doubt most Undocumented immigrants would prefer to avoid Social Security altogether. As part of its efforts to properly assign the growing pile of unassigned wages, Social Security sends about 130,000 letters a year to employers with large numbers of mismatched pay statements.

Though not an intended consequence of these so-called no-match letters, in many cases employers who get them dismiss the workers affected. Or the workers - fearing that immigration authorities might be on their trail - just leave.

Last February, for instance, discrepancies in Social Security numbers put an end to the job of Minerva Ortega, 25, from Zacatecas, in northern Mexico, who worked in the cheese department for a popular discount food retailer with a large operation in California.

The company asked dozens of workers to prove that they had cleared up or were in the process of clearing up the "discrepancy between the information on our payroll related to your employment and the S.S.A.'s records." Most could not.

Ms. Ortega said about 150 workers lost their jobs. In a statement, Mike Campbell said that it did not fire any of the workers, but Robert Camarena, a company official, acknowledged that many left.

Ms. Ortega is now looking for work again. She does not want to go back to the fields, so she is holding out for a better-paid factory job. Whatever work she finds, though, she intends to go on the payroll with the same Social Security number she has now, a number that will not jibe with federal records.

With this number, she will continue paying taxes. Last year she paid about $1,200 in Social Security taxes, matched by her employer, on an income of $19,000.

She will never see the money again, she realizes, but at least she will have a job in the United States.

"I don't pay much attention," Ms. Ortega said. "I know I don't get any benefit."

When we are talking about Tax evasion, Identity Theft. What comes to your mind?

Undocumented Immigrants right!!!!! Sorry to disappointed you. You are Wrong. Ignorance remains the powerful weapons against our Society. Would his punishment fit his crime? His sentence 5 months in prison and 3 years in supervised release. When Undocumented Immigrants has been more than 6 months in Jail, torn apart from their families, and ending up most of the cases in deportation just for searching a better life.

Robert M. MacLafferty, age 46, of Portland, Tennessee was sentenced January 29th to serve 5 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. His sentence also included the requirement to pay restitution to the IRS of $37 plus thousand.

According to the US Attorney’s news release:

MacLafferty pled guilty on October 12, 2007, to five counts of income tax evasion. During his plea hearing, MacLafferty admitted that he earned income which required him to file federal income tax returns for years 1996 through 2003, however, he failed to file such a return in each of those years. MacLafferty also admitted that he had adjusted gross income totaling $227,993 from 2000 to 2003. During this period of time, MacLafferty provided false documents to his employer claiming he was not a citizen of the United States and therefore not liable to pay federal income taxes. MacLafferty also admitted that after the Internal Revenue Service filed a federal tax lien against his residence in Sumner County, he quit claimed his interest in this property and another property to his wife.

Australia taking a big step towards an Humane Immigration Reform.




The Australian Government has announced reforms to the country's immigration detention system saying it will only be used as a last resort. Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, said the reforms will mean the centres are only used for the shortest possible time.

He added: "A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved." Senator Evans stated the department will also have to fully justify why a person with no Australian visa is being held in a detention centre.

In addition, a detainee's case will have to be reviewed every three months to make sure the action is still applicable. Senator Evans added: "Children will not be detained in an immigration detention centre."

Under the new plans three groups of people who do not have the correct Australian visa will still receive mandatory detention, including those arriving on unauthorised boats and those illegally in the country who are not protected under Australia's internal obligations. One advocate on the new system told News.com.au: "It will go from being a first resort to a last resort".

It's time to step up together and make our voice heard. Call action for Justice.





Learn more about the efforts to defend Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia, and how you can get involved!

Sign the letter of support!

Write to Pima County Administrator Huckleberry

Write to the Pima County Board of Supervisors

Call to Action!Defend Isabel Garcia!Defend our First Amendment Rights!

Demand Accountability from those who would support Hate media! As many of you are aware, a recent protest against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has had some ugly backlash. As a community, we set out to let Arpaio know that there were many who did not welcome him into our community. As part of this protest, and in a symbolic expression our disagreement with Sheriff Arpaio, his policies, and his promoting of his xenophobic and narrow-minded perspective in his recent book, an empty piñata with the likeness of Sheriff Arpaio was hit by local youth. As a result, the hate radio talk show host, Jon Justice (104.1 The Truth) has launched a campaign to have one of our Co-chairs, Isabel Garcia, fired from her position as a Pima County Legal Defender.Since the incident, our office has received numerous hate calls, and Jon Justice posted a few offensive videos of himself with a piñata with Isabel's likeness, caressing it and making comments about "wanting to take it home with me," among a few other comments about "chorizo" and "viva la raza." Mr. Justice has since removed the video, as well as the one that followed it, which we found to be even more offensive. Transcripts of the first video is below, as well as a short transcript written by someone who saw the video before it was removed.We ask you, as a community ally, to step up with us in defending Isabel Garcia, demand accountability from 104.1FM, and join us in a campaign to rid Tucson of hate radio. Below are some actions items you can take to join us in solidarity with Isabel, as well as some information that we think might be helpful to learning more about this situation.It is our First Amendment Right, and our duty as members of this society, to denounce anything that goes against the basic human and civil rights that ALL possess. To try to silence those that would condemn torture and racism is contrary to the rights of us all!Sign on to the letter of support for Isabel!Click to view the solidarity letter that we have created in support of Isabel, and which we ask you to sign on to. If you would like your name added to the list of sponsors, please e-mail

sol@derechoshumanosaz.net.

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Letter of Support for Isabel Garcia Please help us to spread the word, and take up the following action items:1. Contact Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry in support of Isabel Garcia. 520.740.8661 or e-mail:

chh@pima.gov

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2. Contact the Journal Broadcast Group, expressing your opinion of Jon Justice and the tactics of 104.1FM, and your concern that local KGUN 9 would be associated with an outlet that is so obviously NOT an objective media source. Contact Julie Brinks: 520.290.7600 or e-mail:

jbrinks@journalbroadcastinggroup.com

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3. Contact the Board of Supervisors, voicing your support of Isabel Garcia, who has broken no rule or regulation as a Pima County employee.Pima County Board of Supervisors 30 West Congress Street, 11th FloorTucson, Arizona 85701 Receptionist - (520) 740-8126 Fax - (520) 884-1152 Ann Day, District 1

Ann.Day@pima.gov

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(520) 740-2738 Ramón Valadez, District 2

district2@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8126 Sharon Bronson, District 3

district3@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8051 Ray Carroll, District 4

district4@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8094 Richard Elías, Chairman, District 5

district5@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8126We need your support!Please spread the word on this Call to Action! Defend our First Amendment rights!Additional Information
Isabel Garcia's statement on the Arpaio Protest Links:Webisode #4 (Justice with a piñata of Isabel Garcia) Transcript of Webisode #4 (Justice with a piñata of Isabel Garcia)
Webisode #5Transcript of Webisode #5 Articles:There Is Blood On Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Hands, And It's Costing Us Millions Tucson radio wing nut "Jon Justice" gets panties in twist over Joe Arpaio pinata.The Bird shelters Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia from the flak she's received for hoisting an Arpaio piñata head Piñata Pr0n Extraordinaire Jon Justice
Right Wing Ideology With an Emphasis on “Idiot.”
Retreating Justice: On-air dork Jon Justice of Tucson's 104.1 FM hides his Isabel Garcia pinata

The feelings and effects in Childrens from Raids at Potsville, Iowa.



See how this kid U.S. Citizen described the effect and hardship for being separated from his parents.
At the same time this horrible feeling has make them judge and change their future minds for the miscarriage of justice and equal opportunitty for all.
This is the lead Nation of Human rights U.S want to be?

Tears for fears change to tears of Hope in Justice.
by Jane Guskin.




Nurses see everything in a day's work. But at the maternity ward of Nashville General Hospital, nurses caring for an immigrant woman in labor broke down and cried when the sheriff's deputy guarding the woman refused to remove the shackles chaining her leg to the bed. The undocumented woman was detained by local authorities because of a cooperation agreement between the county sheriff's department and the immigration enforcement agency, ICE.

In Seattle, a seasoned community leader couldn't hold back her tears at a press conference as she read excerpts from her organization's report about abuses and indignities suffered by immigrants at a local detention center. Female detainees described strip searches and genital and anal cavity inspections following meetings with attorneys; detainees affected by an outbreak of food poisoning were denied medical treatment for many hours; a group of detainees transferred out of the facility by plane to Alabama -- to clear room there for workers arrested in a raid -- were refused access to the bathroom and were forced to sit in their own excrement for the duration of the flight.

Following the May 12 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, court interpreter Erik Camayd-Freixas reported seeing attorneys "weep alongside their clients" as hundreds of immigrant workers were left no choice but to plead guilty to criminal charges.
At St. Bridget's church in Postville, where staff and volunteers have been providing humanitarian assistance to families traumatized by the raid, Father Ouderkirk quotes Sister Mary as saying: "Once you've cried for two straight weeks, you don't have any more tears. But it doesn't mean you stopped feeling."

I've covered immigration news in a weekly bulletin for over a decade, and co-authored a book about immigration which came out last year. Yet it took me three weeks to write about the Postville raid because I couldn't stop crying as I read about the indigenous Guatemalans and Mexicans, victims of labor exploitation, who were dragged through an incomprehensible legal process in makeshift courtrooms at a cattle fairgrounds and are now serving prison sentences; mothers hobbled with government tracking devices on their ankles as they try to care for their families, now without income; and hundreds of children who are grieving the sudden loss of a parent.

I can't even skim through our own book without crying. In the chapter on detention and deportation, the "Story of S." still burns me up, unleashing tears of helplessness, as I remember how ICE delayed releasing S. for a few extra days, saying we needed to prove we had arranged a safe place for her to stay, since she was a survivor of abuse. Yet when they finally released her, they dumped her on the street without letting anyone know -- not even her lawyer -- and without any money, even for a phone call, so she had to make her way on foot to a public library and ask to borrow the phone.

Then there's Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a friend and colleague whose case we covered in that same chapter. Farouk would be 60 now, but he died four years ago today -- on July 21, 2004, his 100th day of freedom after two years in immigration detention. It's not even Farouk's death that brings up the tears for me. It's the eight months he spent in solitary confinement, without seeing the sun, or breathing outside air -- in total violation of the government's own rules -- while our protests, vigils, press releases, and petitions were ignored. And the fact that his entire detention was a farce, since the government already knew Farouk was a man without a country who couldn't be deported.

Tears of rage, of frustration, of grief.

And tears of hope, when I see kids in Providence, Rhode Island, leading some 200 people in a noisy protest to support immigrant janitors arrested by ICE just a few hours earlier. Tears of hope, when I hear that Jewish and Christian communities are planning to converge in Postville on July 27 for a major demonstration in solidarity with the families affected by the Agriprocessors raid. Tears of hope, whenever I see resistance rising.

Hope that we will never get used to the brutality, the human tragedy, that our immigration enforcement system unleashes all around us. Hope that our tears will never dry up, our hearts will never cease to hurt, and our voices will never get tired of demanding justice

Green Card Soldiers become Naturalized


Non-citizen U.S. Soldiers becoming naturalized at a ceremony on LSA Anaconda. Scenes include Soldiers taking their naturalization oath, receiving their papers and getting their photos taken with the deputy director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Honoring Kendell Murphy a Green Card Soldier fallen in Iraq. Where is Justice?



A ceremony commemorates the life of a Kendell Murphy soldier killed in Iraq who had been working on getting his U.S. citizenship -- and a new law that will make it easier for green card military members